Morning journal and courier., 1887-09-15
THE LATE JOHN 8. BEACH.

tIons of Respect-An Eloquent Trib.
 ute Paid to the Deceased by Ex.GOv-
 ernor IngersOlls
 The New Haven County Bar met in the
 Superior court room yesterday morning to
 take action upon the death of the late John
 S. Beach, IL. D. President Tilton E. Doo-
 little called the bar together. The court room
 was crowded, nearly all the lawyers in the
 city being present as well as many from out
 of town.
 Mir. Doolittle very feelingly said "It is
 mournful duty that calls us together. We
 meet in reverent grief to evince our respect
 and deplore the loss of John s. Beach, who
 for so many years has stood in the foremost
 rank of the Connecticut bar. What action
 will you take2"
 Ex-Governor Charles R. Ingerson arose and made one of the most beautiful and elo- ouent eulogies ever heard upon similar oc- ession in the State.
 Mir. Ingersoll said in substance as follows: l ssIt is not easy to express by formal resolu- 1 tions or indeed by any words Of man the l feelings moved in you and me, Mr. Presl- dent, by the event which this meeting is called to deplore. We stand alone as the representatives of the bar as it was in the de- l cade that brought John s. Beach to the bar. | For forty years you and have stood with him. It is hard to rupture such 8 tie. My | recollections of him are of an earlier date still in boyhood and college, and for forty | four years have I been engaged with him in our profession. When look back, sir, over his long life it is luminous with qualities that sanctify friendship and make upright citizenship. I dare
 not dwell longer on personal recol- lections, except to give one illustration. It | h11fr Qf social gathering | that he ever attended that MT. Beach told a l distinguished lawyer that he had been as sociated with me for over forty years in 1 practice. during which time we had been en- l gagged iR the same hundreds of times, | and almost invariably on opposite sides, but during all this time there never had arisen | between us the slightest ding. | And that, sir, is the literal truth. Notably and thoroughly he was a lawyer. His ambition was to be active in the place where justice was to be sought. The duty of his life out | side of home was centered in the profession. | The jealous mistress of the law never found | a slight in him. No public office ever led ! him away. No popular phantom of public 1 honor influenced him and no temptation to quick wealth ever enslaved him. He did not
 serve the profession as plodder or slave, | but because he gloried in 1t. His devotion | to the profession was the result of conclu- sion that in the discharge of life's duty there was nothing that offered to his moral and
 intellectual nature the same opportunities. '1 need not sly how rewarded that devo- l tion was. No lawyer at this bar ever had & larger clientage. Few representative ! men of the community or great business I concerns that have not been guided by his counsel. We are all familiar with his | rare power of presenting cases in court. There charm about it to which none were more anxious to listen than the judges. It was the same when he came to the bar as at the close of his career, without rhetorical display or any display, yet the hand of the artist was behind all. His great aim was to catch the reason of the tryer. I do not re- member of his ever being engaged in crimi-
 but delighted in the controversy where prin- ciples were to be e1pounded and applied.
 "This is the hour of lamentation rather than
 eulogy. The earth has not yet closed on his
 form, but when it does this bar will cherish
 his memory among it's jewels.''
 Ex-Governor Ingersoll and State Attorney
 Doolittle are the only distinguished contem-
 porariss of the deceased lawyer who have
 practiced here for over forty years and they
 keenly feel the loss of their brother attorney.
 Professor Johnson T. Platt seconded the
 resolutions offered by ex Governor Ingersoll,
 and spoke as follows:
 It is not easy for me to rise and say any thing here and now. The event that brings us together is too recent and unexpected; the shock is too great to those who knew Mr. Beach as intimately as you and I knew him, Mir. Chairman, to make it possible at this time to speak fitting word of one who was so conspicuous figure at this bar.
 For nearly half of my professional life was in intimate professional association with him daily, and since those relations were dis solved have seen him often, and advancing years brought increasing affection and admir- ration. The whole period was unclouded by 1 any misunderstanding or unpleasant word. | He was the guide and instructor of my youth and to no one in later years did I turn with | more confidence for advice.
 He was lawyer. If, as has sometimes been said the law is jealous mistress, he I loved her. It was his delight to work out | the idea of justice as applied to the concrete f relations of men in society. He never forgot | that he was 8 member of noble profession, l and that it's functions and duties were ends | in themselves. In the discussion of any legal ! question he exhibited uncommon strength | and subtlety of mind, and his long and care full study gave him unusual command of the | analogies of the law. Of these qualities it is, however, unnecessary to speak in the pres ence of his brethren of the profession
 The layman who observed his quiet, silent figure upon the street, or remarked the mod | est way in which he rose, and in 8 conversa- tional tone of voice addressed the court, l He never did anything for applause, and his nobility of soul was so great that he would rather be misjudged than seem to do it.
 I have heard it remarked that he was great lawyer, but not great advocate.0 0the persons did not know his pafw knew it. courts and his brethsfopard, classmate of The late Com college and at the Law school, 1 Mrn Opposed to him at the bar, and associ- ted with him in a case of great importance t the time of his death, and himself great dvocate, once remarked in my presence that | n his judgment MT. Beach was the most as {, ute advocate at the Connecticut bar. II
 And then his style, so simple, so terse, so ! ( ull-freighted, so unbounded in ''unlabored l and so perfectly adapted to his t purposes. Undoubtedly he had the natural s fit of expression in large measure, but it was | edulously cultivated. I have known him to I urn over many books and spend much time I a the search for a word capable of expressing l is exact thought.
 His rare common sense, great knowledge r f the law, and devotion to the interests of is clients, made his advice of great value nd widely sought.
 And now he is removed from the scenes of ! a Is activities and triumphs, and soon 8 gen. ration will crowd these court rooms to c mich his name will be but legend. But il 1e work which he has done in behalf of il ruth and justice can never be lost. The re- \ b orts of the decisions of the Supreme court I n this State, of the Circuit court of the 8 nited States for this district, and of the P uprou0 cOurt or the ODlLoU SGaL6S VIII give ' 6 ,me notion of the mass of that work and f. le long period over which it was extended. o e has gone, as I cannot but think he would o ish to go, with his family about him, and !. le harness on. He was busily engaged in work, and in the full exercise of is great abilities, until he went with his Imily to take his accustomed summer vaca- on, and he returned to his own city to die @ the courts had reopened.
 Ex-Governor Ingersoll offered this resolu- on, which was adopted:
 John Sheldon Beach, the honored leader of the ew Haven bar, and for many years eminent in all the courts of this State having parted this life at his residence in the city of sw Haven on the 18th inst hil brethren of the 1T with which his professional life has been asso- ated desire in their sorrow to place upon the cords of the court so long adorned by his service cir sense of the bereavement sustained by them d the community in which the labor of his life s been accomplished,
 it Is by the members of the bar of sw Haven county now assembled for the pur- se,
 Resolved, That deeply impressed by the great d good qualities, and the useful and honorable